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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24019714">From the mist two roads diverged</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karaii/pseuds/Leu'>Leu (Karaii)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Naruto rarepair generator [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Character Study, F/M, Kirigakure | Hidden Mist Village</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-03 00:27:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>613</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24019714</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karaii/pseuds/Leu</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Land of Water is a treacherous moat of mist and blood-soaked mud. Those that are born from its womb are given stilts to crawl, and all the trash that washes in from abroad are left to drown. Thus the caste system: Mei, whose pedigree is muddled by Whirlpool, is considered subhuman even after she proves her loyalty seven times over; Kisame, shark-toothed and homegrown, is given a towel to wipe himself after he kills his classmates and earns himself a forehead protector.</p><p>Thus they grow: Mei, into a demure and politely vicious murderer, who longs to be treated as a woman, and not a tool; and Kisame into a man who believes truth is a thing that exists, and should be pursued. The only thing they are alike in is their manners.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hoshigaki Kisame/Terumi Mei</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Naruto rarepair generator [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1372372</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>From the mist two roads diverged</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>For the prompt "Kisame &amp; Mei".</p><p>I became fond of this pairing after I wrote it... Kirigakure is such a fascinating country, and so, so fucked up.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Hoshigaki-san,” Mei bows low. “Please take care of me.”</p><p>“No, Terumi-san,” Kisame bows a little lower. “It is I who should be saying that.”</p><p>Fuguki-taichou nearly beheads them both with the massive Samehada. “Shut the fuck up, you belly-crawling troglodytes! We have a mission and if I have to hear you two jabbering on about anything that isn’t that, I will use your ribs to clean between my teeth!”</p><p>“Yes, sir,” they echo in unison.</p><p>They work well. Kisame drowns their targets. Mei boils them alive. Fuguki brings them back in pieces.</p><p>Together, they make a mean stirfry. It’s almost homely.</p><p>“If I may ask, Terumi-san, how did you survive the purges?” Kisame asks her, slurping their victim’s marrow. The popularity of those with bloodline limits come and go with the Fourth Mizukage’s moods, and Mei has never shied from using hers openly.</p><p>“How do you think?” Mei smiles prettily. She blows upon the target’s liver to make it a little less raw, and slurps it whole.</p><p>“Hh.”</p><p>They work again several times over the course of their adolescence. Mei grows breasts and a sex drive, while Kisame grows disillusioned and loses his own.</p><p>“Have you heard?” Mei murmurs into his breastbone. “The little Demon plans to murder the Fourth.”</p><p>Kisame frowns. “Momochi-san?” Mei is warm but he’s always run cold, and her curves are uncomfortable against his coarse skin. He doesn’t know why he does not like it anymore. Ever since he slit Fuguki’s throat and learned of the meaninglessness of the Cipher Division, Samehada’s sharp spines at his back have been ever more welcome.</p><p>“Mm,” Mei sits up against him. “Can you keep a secret?”</p><p>“I have killed to keep them,” Kisame says.</p><p>Mei traces his clan markings slowly. “So you have.”</p><p>Kisame is quiet, and so is Mei. She has chosen not to share her secret. He does not press her for it. They both know now Kisame will have to kill her, if he hears it.</p><p>In the end, it is Mei who is sent to kill Kisame, when he finally cuts a line through his headband.</p><p>“Why?” Mei says coldly. She may have Whirlpool blood staining her hair into curls, but her heart is thoroughly that of the Mist.</p><p>“This village is built on lies,” he says simply.</p><p>“The world is built on lies,” Mei says. “But human hearts are true. Come home with me! Zabuza will kill the Fourth, and I will take his place. I will make Mist right!”</p><p>Kisame sways. But his heart is set. “Goodbye, Mei,” he says.</p><p>Mei sublimates. “Then die, Kisame!”</p><p>If it were not for Samehada, Kisame would have become sharkfin soup.</p><p>He wanders for some time. This world is not made for someone of his temperament, or his skin type. He ultimately finds comfort in Rain. The water there tastes of a different sort of contamination, but a splash of blood makes it taste like home. Akatsuki finds him then, and promises him an end to deceit. Kisame is no fool…he knows well they all lie. But he is of the Mist, where all treason is punished with death. He laconically accepts their cloak as a slow suicide.</p><p>Until he meets a blood-eyed boy who truly is the embodiment of such a self-imposed fate. Human hearts, Kisame realizes, are the truest thing there is. He dies believing in that.</p><p>Mei does not. She makes good on her promise, usurping the Fourth and taking her place as Fifth Mizukage. Her land is a broth of cutthroat cannibals and she has been swimming in it since the day she was born. She knows they can be better.</p><p>They will be better.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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